PHOENIX, Ariz., March 30, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via PRWEB - The PFM Group of companies, (http://www.pfm.com) one of the nation's leading providers of independent financial and investment advisory services to state and local governments and non-profit institutions, announced today that Arizona-based professionals, with over 50 years of collective experience in investments, have joined PFM Asset Management LLC (PFMAM), the asset management business of PFM Group. Richard Petrenka and Neal Helm will work in PFMAM's office in the Phoenix metropolitan area, which, added to the firm's existing location in Chandler, AZ, will further enhance the firm's efforts to provide investment advisory services throughout Arizona and the Southwest region.
"We are extremely pleased to have a pair of financial professionals with this broad level of investment management experience and technical abilities join us," commented Lauren Brant, PFMAM Managing Director. "Adding to our resources in the Southwest and building on our existing business in Arizona and the regional marketplace is a natural development for PFMAM, and we look forward to bringing our broad range of investment services to better serve new and existing clients throughout the state and the region."
Richard Petrenka, who joined PFMAM as a Senior Managing Consultant, has worked as an investment advisor to governments in Arizona since February 2003. Prior to joining PFMAM, Petrenka was employed at another investment advisory firm located in Phoenix. His prior experience includes service as Deputy State Treasurer of Arizona for 16 years. Mr. Petrenka also previously sat on both the State Water Infrastructure Finance Authority and Greater Arizona Development Authority boards as the Treasurer's designee.
He holds a B.A. degree in Political Science from Fairleigh Dickinson University and an M.P.A. from Arizona State University. Mr. Petrenka is a Certified Governmental Financial Manager (CGFM), was designated a Toll Fellow by the Council of State Governments, and currently serves as a Trustee on the board of the Arizona Public Safety Personnel Retirement System.
Neal Helm has also joined PFMAM's Arizona team as a Senior Managing Consultant. He, too, previously was employed at another investment advisory firm in Phoenix and worked as a portfolio strategist to governments in Arizona since February 2003 after serving as Deputy State Treasurer of Arizona for Investments for 20 years. Prior to joining the Treasurer's staff, Mr. Helm was the analyst for the State Senate Finance Committee. Before that, he was employed as a financial analyst and economist.
Mr. Helm holds a B.S. degree in Economics from Arizona State University and is a veteran with the U.S. Army. He has served as a member of the Arizona and Western Blue Chip Economic Forecasting Panel and the Arizona Department of Transportation's Regional Economic Forecasting Group.
Ms. Brant pointed out the importance of staffing the Arizona office with investment professionals who know the market so well. She further noted that Paulina Woo, a PFMAM Senior Managing Consultant who has served Arizona clients for the past eight years from the San Francisco office, will also be making Arizona her permanent home base.
"Richard, Neal, and Paulina have a deep understanding of the public investment landscape here, which helps PFMAM provide even better service to our regional clients," she observed, "and enhances our ability to bring of all our investment management resources to bear in this geographic area. It truly demonstrates our firm's commitment to this market, and our ability to grow here."
The PFM Group of companies, through its affiliate PFMAM, also provides investment consulting services and pension advisory consulting services to pension funds and similar institutional investors. PFMAM is registered with the SEC under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 and manages money market, fixed income, and multi asset class portfolios. For the period ending December 31, 2014, PFMAM had $103.4 billion in total assets, including $53.0 billion in discretionary assets under management and $50.4 billion in non-discretionary assets under advisement.
PFMAM offers a strong history of thoughtful innovation coupled with an abiding dedication to protecting client capital. For 35 years, PFMAM professionals have specialized in providing fixed income portfolio management for separate accounts, emphasizing a conservative, low-risk, and disciplined approach to research and portfolio construction. Other major areas of expertise at PFMAM include separately managed bond portfolios and multi-asset class portfolio management, as well as investment advisory and consulting services in OPEB and pension management.
For almost four decades, the PFM Group has built a solid presence in the municipal marketplace. The PFM Group of companies also includes Public Financial Management, Inc.,(PFM) the top-ranked municipal advisory firm in the nation for the past seventeen years according to Thomson Reuters, providing independent financial advisory services to a broad base of local, state, and regional government and non-profit clients throughout the United States. PFM is a registered municipal advisor with the SEC and the MSRB under the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010.
The PFM Group currently employs more than 500 professionals serving a broad base of clients from locations in every region of the country.
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